Deciphering the roles of reactive oxygen species and calcium during viral infection in Arabidopsis

As sessile organisms, plants always have to deal with different environmental stimuli.

The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and calcium flux as second messengers are one of the common strategies to respond to such stimuli.

Upon perception of pathogens, molecular warning signals (ROS and calcium) propagate cell-to-cell to trigger defence mechanisms.

However, the precise roles of ROS and calcium during viral infection process and the associated signalling mechanism remain largely unknown.

Viruses are obligate intracellular pathogens that hijack host machineries to facilitate their replication and propagation across the plant through plasmodesmata, communication channels bridging the plant cells.

The ViROSCa projects goal is to explore the mutual role of generated ROS and calcium signals and to study the crosstalk between the two signals during viral infection and later identify the virus element(s) that specifically induce(s) such signals.

I will integrate Arabidopsis genetics, biosensors, genome editing technology (CRISPR/Cas9) and advanced microscopy techniques to decipher the roles of plasma membrane (PM)-located ROS- and calcium related candidate proteins and PM organisation (nanodomains) during the plant virus infection process.

The novelty of the project is the use of a powerful pathosystem and biosensors to study the crosstalk between ROS and calcium signalling.